The error of 2 gospels...

The Gospel presented to the Jews (by Peter and others) was the same Messiah as that for the Gentiles (presented by Paul).

The difference being that the Jews needed to see Him as the One they had been waiting for, whereas the Gentiles needed to see Him as the One they never knew they needed.

Here is Authentication versus Acknowledgement, for two different audiences, yet the One and the same  Messiah, and one Gospel because of Him, based on Faith alone.

Truth is singular. Its "versions" are mistruths. - David Mitchell

This secular saying is profound and true in itself, but more importantly, it is reflected in scripture as well, about God the Father, Christ Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Truth is indeed singular, Truth is Jesus Christ, the Only Truth, God in the Flesh, the Living Word witnessed by the Holy Spirit.

His Gospel is characterized as "He" being the Only way to the Father, as He is the Gate, the Door (John 10:9), the Narrow Path of Faith in Him alone (Matthew 7:14), and there is no other way.

There is no other name under heaven by which men are saved (Acts 2:12).

He IS the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6)

Truth is characterized by Light. Jesus is the Light of the World (John 8:12)

Everyone loves (John 3:16), and rightly so, but John continues on with the essence of the One Gospel of Christ Jesus and ALL the apostles (the "B" of "Believe" in the ABC's of salvation) in verse 18 beautifully.

"Whoever believes in Him is not condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."

How this resonates so well with Paul's (Romans 8:1-4), and verse 1; "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". And also with Paul's declaration of the Gospel he preached in (1 Corinthians 15:1-11). Here we see but one example of how the gospel was the same message by all Apostles and Christ Jesus.

Getting back to the Light as a metaphor or an analogy, we consider how light operates. There is only one true light and that is God Himself. Everything else is but a reflection or shadow by this light. We either reflect His Light in our lives, or we hide in shadow and darkness away from the Light.

John explains this in (John 3:19-21), and Paul in (Ephesians 5:11-13) goes on to use this analogy in his caution and command to expose the deeds of darkness, how when everything exposed to the light becomes a light (a reflection) itself.

Here we see what John started out with in (John 1:1-13)... The Light that chases out the darkness. The light that saves, the One Gospel message of Christ Jesus, the Messiah, God in the Flesh, and by Faith alone in this person of Jesus, as the One True Son of God, are men saved (John 1:12-13).

"But to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, children born not of blood, nor of the desire or will of man, but born of God."

Again here we see Jesus, Paul, and John all in harmony on "The Gospel".

It is not blood, nor works, but Faith in Christ that qualifies us. Just as it is reflected by Paul in (Ephesians 2:8-9), the message is the same, the message is true, and the message is One Gospel.

Paul would speak this brilliantly by the Holy Spirit in:

Ephesians 4:4-5

- There is one body
- and one Spirit,
- just as you were called to one hope
when you were called;
- one Lord,
- one faith,
- one baptism;
- one God and Father of all,
who is over all
and through all
and in all.

The specificity of "One Body", "One Faith", "One Lord", "One Hope", and "One Baptism" (which is not water baptism, but that of the Holy Spirit), in this declaration of unity leaves no room for any other.

Simply put, Christ's Gospel is singular, and for all men, and is based on faith (heart belief and verbal declaration).

Just ask the thief on the cross, who had no way to come down off of it and do works, or get water baptized. What was his success?

- Acknowledgement of his sin nature and therefor his need for a savior.
- Belief that Jesus was the Messiah and Son of God and sinless
- Confession with his lips of the first two, and called upon Christ to save him.

And he was saved, by Christ, by His very words to the man.

No less than the ABC's of Salvation!

Romans 10:9-10

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.

When the Church began:

At this point after having established the above as a foundation, I would like to address the false doctrine of more than one Gospel.

I will be using context, and Paul's own words, to dispel this false doctrine about 2 gospels, as well as false interpretation of the start of the Church with Paul later in Acts (an often claimed point of Rightly Divide types).

Lets start head on with that claim right now. The Church already existed before Paul's conversion by Paul's own words and context.

Galatians 1:13-14

For you have heard of my former way of life in Judaism, how severely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.

✔ Did you catch it?

He persecuted the Church of God before his conversion on the road to Damascus. This necessitates it's existence long before Paul was converted. The church began at Pentecost (Acts 2), and with the original Apostles.

Paul's Gospel (or Why the My?) and the unity of ALL the Apostles:

There are those who claim that Paul's gospel was a different Gospel due to the fact that he was assigned to the Gentiles, and an assumed difference in message to the Jews by the other apostles. They'll tell you that Paul was at odds with the other Apostles, and some even think Paul was a false Apostle.

In fact, some of these same folks will often carry with them the need for "works" to maintain salvation. They twist or ignore the words of the very Apostle who was so vehemently against human justification by any works.

They also claim that there are two gospels because of his use of the phrase "my Gospel", three times in his epistles. You will find them in (Romans 2:14-16), (Romans 16:25), and (2 Timothy 2:8).

He uses it twice in Romans and once in 2 Timothy 2. In both cases, he is not differentiating his Gospel with the Gospel of the other apostles, but specifying the authenticity of the Gospel he preached, to these two audiences, as a comparison against false doctrine and false gospels.

In both cases Paul was in a struggle against false doctrine (of works and tradition) trying to invade these churches and supplant Grace by Faith alone. Whether it was Judaizer's, Pagans, or just evil men of no faith, was of no difference.

In saying "My Gospel", it was equivalent to saying "follow MY instructions, my words, and not that of others who were to the contrary". This had nothing to do with the other apostles at all.

Paul's own words as well as Peter's show that they not only were friendly, but had respect for each other, and that they all were in unity preaching the SAME gospel.

Paul settles the unity of the apostles and the message plainly in several points of scripture.

Consider for example, his abject dismay at the church members who clung to individuals and competed and argued with each other over who they followed in:

1 Corinthians 1:12-13

What I mean is this:

Individuals among you are saying,

“I follow Paul,”
“I follow Apollos,”
“I follow Cephas (Peter),”

or

“I follow Christ.”

Is Christ divided?

Was Paul crucified for you?

Were you baptized into the name of Paul?

He completely divorces himself of an individual message or as a separate apostle.

He claims Christ by saying "Is Christ divided?", meaning NO! Christ, working through Paul, is the same Christ working through the others reflected in (Galatians 2:7-8), and he reminds them neither he or the others are the savior.

It seems then, that Paul was addressing the very same problem back then, of a "Different Gospel".

If this isn't enough then also consider his concise word to ultimately squash any thought of a separate message in (1 Corinthians 15:11).

After declaring the Gospel he preaches in verses 1-4, then addressing the appearance of Christ to all the apostles in order (including Peter), and then to him (Paul) lastly in verses 5-10...

He settles the whole matter of Unity of the Gospel message in one fell swoop, in scripture, for all eternity in verse 11...

Whether, then, it was I or THEY (the other apostles), this is what WE preach, and this is what YOU believed.

Whether it was Paul or the other apostles, it was what THEY ALL preached (in unity), One Gospel, that WE all believe.

The relationship of the Apostles (including Paul):

- Paul was accepted by Peter and John and James

Galatians 2:7-9

On the contrary, they saw that I had been entrusted to preach the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For the One who was at work in Peter’s apostleship to the circumcised was also at work in my apostleship to the Gentiles.

And recognizing the grace that I had been given, James, Cephas (Peter), and John —those reputed to be pillars— gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised.

- Paul confronted Peter as a brother in the faith

Galatians 2:11-16

When Cephas (Peter) came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood to be condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not walking in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas (Peter) in front of them all, “If you, who are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

We who are Jews by birth and not Gentile “sinners” know that a man is not justified by works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have believed in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

- And if you think Peter did not consider him (Paul) a real brother and a real apostle, especially later on, you have again, scripture to settle it.

2 Peter 3:15-16

Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation,

just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you

with the wisdom God gave him.

He writes this way in all his letters,

speaking in them about such matters.

Some parts of his letters are hard to understand,

which ignorant and unstable people distort,

as they do the rest of the Scriptures,

to their own destruction.

And here, Peter even gives warning about the very topic we are discussing. How ignorant and unstable people distort Paul's words, as they do the rest of scripture to their own destruction.

Conclusion:

There is only One Gospel, and any who would tell you otherwise are giving you "another Gospel" and we all know where that leads...

I leave you again with Paul's caution to the Corinthians, Philippians, and Galatians...

2 Corinthians 11:3-4

I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning,

your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

For if someone comes and proclaims a Jesus other than the One we proclaimed,

or if you receive a different spirit than the One you received,

or a different gospel than the one you accepted,

...

you put up with it way too easily.

Philippians 3:2

Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

Galatians 1:8

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

Ouch!

Be discerning... Be diligent!

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Don't be a grape. 🚫 🍇

🦊 Jack [ The Foxman on the Wall ]